The Autism Story From Another Point of View | Autism has become one of the afflictions of our age. The numbers of children placed on the autism “spectrum” now numbers about one in 88. While parents and educators cope with raising a generation with the condition, society is wondering: How did this happen? And what is to be done? Enter Dr. June Pimm and her book The Autism Story. It is, she says, intended for teachers and parents. The aim is to offer her insight into the condition and the attendant industry of people who work to help those with the diagnosis become better functioning members of society. But more than that, it is a cautionary tale about how society deals with a seemingly exploding condition that afflicts a rapidly rising number of our most precious commodity, our kids. “It is like a handbook,” Pimm says of the short, clear and concise book that she wrote because she believes people need information to help them make good decisions about how to raise their children. “I just felt, I don’t usually like to make this point too strongly because I don’t like to get people’s backs up, but essentially autism is being put forward to the public as a very simple thing, no questions asked. You take your child to the doctor, they get referred to a specialist and they diagnose the child with autism. “It’s not simple. I felt I had to alert people that they need to know more before they jump into treatment and leave this diagnosis with the child for life.” Pimm is no fool. She has been a respected doctor of psychology for half a century, watching treatment fads come and go. Presently, she is on the faculty of medicine at the University of Miami and she is an adjunct professor at Carleton University. Her career has made her an expert on children with the symptoms that are now called autism. As well, Pimm is the psychology co-ordinator for the autism program at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. “I was well-trained in assessment early in my career. When we do assessments in psychology we are very rigourous. Psychologists understand statistics and the reliability of instruments and predictive validity and the helpfulness of a diagnosis.” In her opinion, “none of these (standards) are met in the diagnosis of autism. There’s nothing that fits the requirements that we would normally expect. There is no psychiatric diagnosis that should ever be given to children at 18 months of age, two years of age.” For many this will be a shocking conclusion. Currently diagnosed children in Ontario are involved in expensive one-on-one treatments for 40 hours a week with specialists who use the behavioural approach to teaching children with autism. It is a treatment that flows from the American B.F. Skinner who used to train rats to navigate a maze with cheese. If people choose to follow this approach. well and good. But Pimm believes other forms of treatment should be on the table, all the while acknowledging the potential for charlatans to enter the treatment field. “There is nothing wrong with the applied behavioural approach per se,” Pimm says. “We use it all the time. We pay children to do the chores. They get dessert after they eat their dinner. But for these children (with autism), in my opinion, it stops their development.” Continue reading here: edmontonjournal/entertainment/books/autism+story+from+another+point+view/10042085/story.html?__federated=1
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 16:42:08 +0000
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